Well I finally got to maiden the ESM F7 last Sunday. The DLE 30's ran great and she only needed a few clicks of down elevator. She flew like a pattern ship very stable and smooth.The landing was hard as she sank faster than anticipated and the main gear mounts will need repair. The weight of the 30's didn't help.

I recently (March 2017) took my nephew to the airshow at Chino Airport, put on by the Planes of Fame Museum which is located at Chino.
They had a couple of flying Tigercats there. Superbly restored planes, and one put on a great aerobatic demo!

My nephew was already aware of the Tigercats, and was very excited to see them in person, so I was telling him about this thread, and about the "legendary" Col. Chuck Winter and his Tigercat.
I'll be joining an RC club near the Chino airport soon, and finally getting back into the hobby big-time.
I really appreciate the inspiration and valuable advice that Chuck and others in the Merced County RC Club provided to me back in the 80's.
I will endeavor to pass that advice along, especially where safety is concerned, and maybe I can help to inspire future aviators with the traditions that people like Chuck have carried forward for many years.

Always wishing you the best Chuck!
Wishing all of you good luck, and safe flying!

- Mike Ross (aka Pancake)

P.S. If you live in, or are ever visiting So.Cal., I highly recommend stopping by the Chino Airport, and the Planes of Fame Museum. Their work is amazing, and they have some very rare and special aircraft. The airshow was AWESOME!

Hi Mike AKA Pancake ---- SUPER video of the Tigercat flying at Chino air show. If you have seen my youube video of my Tigercat with smoke, many of the shots look like the full size Tigercat. Thanks for the video ---- Col. Chuck Winter

Hi Mike AKA Pancake ---- SUPER video of the Tigercat flying at Chino air show. If you have seen my youube video of my Tigercat with smoke, many of the shots look like the full size Tigercat. Thanks for the video ---- Col. Chuck Winter

Hi Chuck!
Yeah, I was going back through your posts and had just viewed your Castle video.
I was thinking "That looks alot like the one at Chino", so I searched for a video of that one.

Give me a shout if they'll be having any big RC events at Castle again.
That would be a real blast from the past!

The right nacell (pilots perspective) on my buddies plane is pointed straight forward, but the wing joiner is not a perfect fit. There is a small gap at the rear.
The left nacell is pointed outboard a couple of degrees... 1 or 2.

Should both of these be pointing straight ahead or should they both be canted out a little bit?

Hello-I haven't posted in a while, but we finally maidened my ESM Tigercat with RCGF 20 engines, APC 15x6 props Sierra Giant Retracts and optikill switches. I bought it several years ago from a good builder and balanced it successfully with a Xicoy Electronic balancer. Despite pulling dramatically to the left on a takeoff and being way out of trim for a couple laps, after trimmed out she flew and landed beautifully.

Hi Chuck - I will find my notes and confirm how much she weighs, but if I recall correctly she was about 25 lbs with some added lead in the nose. Here are a couple pics. Note, we flew her with APC 15x6's as the Master Airscew 16x6's in the pics were not as efficient and touched the grass robbing us of rpms.

Picked up one used a few months back with DLE-30ís. Needed some TLC. Working on swapping out the very old garbage KMP gear for a NOS set of century jet units I got from VQ that Tomas had left. These were most definitly not drop in units. I can see why Century jet is no longer in business, these arent much better then the KMP versions.
Iíve refinished mine as well, since the original builder destroyed the finish with his glue covered finger prints. This is the original all composite version

Hi Cat Fans. I will be retiring my Tiger Cat after many great years of flying. I just had my 89 birthday and have lost the edge to fly my Cat. It's tough getting old but you have no choice. The Cat is ready to fly (Ran the engines, Taxied, put on Smoke system) a few days ago. You can see a video of my Cat flying at Castle Airport at a Giant Scale Fly-In. I live in California and you would have to come to my home to see the airplane. Please, only serious parties contact me. Col.Chuck Winter (209) 777-6669.

Hi ???? Not sure of your first name (tahustvedt) I had flown my Cat with only Flaps for over a year and tried 10% Droop Ailerons and liked the FEEL on landing. I don't use High Speed (SUPER HIGH SPEED) on landing. In the video you can see the landing is not FAST but very SAFE and controllable. Col. Chuck Winter

This is one of the best "in your face" posts I've ever seen. No surprise it's on a Tigercat forum. Kudos and then some...